Over the years, various towing systems have been developed for mounting in the bed or cargo area of pickup trucks and related vehicles. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,509,682 and 5,707,070 both to Lindenman et al. are representative of fifth wheel hitch assemblies and U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,418 to Lindenman et al. and Des. 362,224 to McCoy et al. are representative of gooseneck hitch assemblies useful for this purpose. Such hitch assemblies are typically securely mounted through the cargo bed to the frame of the vehicle by means of a mounting system. Some mounting systems such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,682 incorporate base rails or other structures that mount above the cargo bed. Others, such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,418 incorporate a structural framework that mounts underneath the bed of the vehicle.
The present invention relates to an under bed mounting system of relatively simple construction. It is user friendly and provides reliable and dependable performance over a long service life. The mounting system also offers the consumer unparalleled versatility since one may mount a number of different vehicle accessories to the vehicle through the mounting system. Such accessories include but are not limited to a fifth wheel hitch assembly, a gooseneck hitch assembly and an article anchor or carrier such as a bike rack, a motorcycle stand or other useful device. Consequently, the mounting system represents a significant advance in the art.